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Toto Wolff is in final negotiations to sell a portion of his ownership stake in the Mercedes F1 outfit.

This transaction values the Mercedes team at £4.6bn – an unprecedented figure for a Formula 1 squad – following the McLaren team were valued at £3.5bn in an adjustment to ownership structure last September.

The Austrian executive, who holds one-third of the Mercedes F1 operation, would sell a shareholding approximately five percent.

The 53-year-old would stay on as team principal and CEO should the deal proceed.

Ownership Structure

Remaining partners in Mercedes F1 are Mercedes and industrial group Ineos, who each also own one-third of the enterprise.

A Mercedes spokesperson stated: "We will be making no official statement on the matter. The governance of the team stays unchanged, and each shareholder are fully committed to continued achievements of the brand in F1."

Valuation Increase

The deal would represent a significant increase in worth of the Mercedes team since Ineos bought its stake for £208 million in 2022.

This surge reflects the growth in valuations of F1 teams recently as a consequence of the increasing appeal of Formula 1 around the world.

This was also seen in the success of the F1 movie starring Hollywood star Brad Pitt, which debuted in summer 2023 and earned over $630 million (£458 million) at cinemas worldwide.

It is the actor's top-grossing movie and the most successful sports movie ever released.

Present Standings

The Mercedes team are runner-up in the constructors' championship, behind McLaren Racing, with three Grands Prix left this season.

Mercedes' primary racer George Russell has won 2 of the 21 races so far and is in fourth place in the drivers' championship behind McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.

Mercedes won a unprecedented eight straight constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles, six won by Lewis Hamilton and one for Nico Rosberg, from 2014 to 2021.